1 221 136 A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS OF YOGA FOR HYPERTENSION. BACKGROUND: THE AIM OF THIS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS WAS TO EVALUATE THE QUALITY OF EVIDENCE AND THE STRENGTH OF RECOMMENDATION FOR YOGA AS A THERAPEUTIC MEANS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF PREHYPERTENSION AND HYPERTENSION. METHODS: MEDLINE/PUBMED, SCOPUS, CENTRAL, AND INDMED WERE SCREENED THROUGH FEBRUARY 2014 FOR RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) ON THE EFFECTS OF YOGA INTERVENTIONS (>/=8 WEEKS) COMPARED WITH USUAL CARE OR ANY ACTIVE CONTROL INTERVENTION ON BLOOD PRESSURE IN PATIENTS WITH PREHYPERTENSION (120-139/80-89 MM HG) OR HYPERTENSION (>/=140/>/=90 MM HG). RISK OF BIAS WAS ASSESSED USING THE COCHRANE RISK OF BIAS TOOL; QUALITY OF EVIDENCE WAS ASSESSED ACCORDING TO THE GRADE RECOMMENDATIONS. RESULTS: SEVEN RCTS WITH A TOTAL OF 452 PATIENTS WERE INCLUDED. COMPARED WITH USUAL CARE, VERY LOW-QUALITY EVIDENCE WAS FOUND FOR EFFECTS OF YOGA ON SYSTOLIC (6 RCTS, N = 278; MEAN DIFFERENCE (MD) = -9.65 MM HG, 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL (CI) = -17.23 TO -2.06, P = 0.01; HETEROGENEITY: I (2) = 90%, CHI(2) = 48.21, P < 0.01) AND DIASTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURE (6 RCTS, N = 278; MD = -7.22 MM HG, 95% CI = -12.83 TO -1.62, P = 0.01; HETEROGENEITY: I (2) = 92%, CHI(2) = 64.84, P < 0.01). SUBGROUP ANALYSES REVEALED EFFECTS FOR RCTS THAT INCLUDED HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS BUT NOT FOR RCTS THAT INCLUDED BOTH HYPERTENSIVE AND PREHYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS, AS WELL AS FOR RCTS THAT ALLOWED ANTIHYPERTENSIVE COMEDICATION BUT NOT FOR THOSE THAT DID NOT. MORE ADVERSE EVENTS OCCURRED DURING YOGA THAN DURING USUAL CARE. COMPARED WITH EXERCISE, NO EVIDENCE WAS FOUND FOR EFFECTS OF YOGA ON SYSTOLIC OR DIASTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURE. CONCLUSIONS: LARGER STUDIES ARE REQUIRED TO CONFIRM THE EMERGING BUT LOW-QUALITY EVIDENCE THAT YOGA MAY BE A USEFUL ADJUNCT INTERVENTION IN THE MANAGEMENT OF HYPERTENSION. 2014 2 2491 50 YOGA AS ANTIHYPERTENSIVE LIFESTYLE THERAPY: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. OBJECTIVE: TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFICACY OF YOGA AS ANTIHYPERTENSIVE LIFESTYLE THERAPY AND IDENTIFY MODERATORS THAT ACCOUNT FOR VARIABILITY IN THE BLOOD PRESSURE (BP) RESPONSE TO YOGA. METHODS: WE SYSTEMATICALLY SEARCHED 6 ELECTRONIC DATABASES FROM INCEPTION THROUGH JUNE 4, 2018, FOR ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE JOURNALS ON TRIALS OF YOGA INTERVENTIONS THAT INVOLVED ADULT PARTICIPANTS, REPORTED PREINTERVENTION AND POSTINTERVENTION BP, AND HAD A NONEXERCISE/NONDIET CONTROL GROUP. OUR SEARCH YIELDED 49 QUALIFYING CONTROLLED TRIALS (56 INTERVENTIONS). WE (1) EVALUATED THE RISK OF BIAS AND METHODOLOGICAL STUDY QUALITY, (2) PERFORMED META-REGRESSION ANALYSIS FOLLOWING RANDOM-EFFECTS ASSUMPTIONS, AND (3) GENERATED ADDITIVE MODELS THAT REPRESENTED THE LARGEST POSSIBLE CLINICALLY RELEVANT BP REDUCTIONS. RESULTS: ON AVERAGE, THE 3517 TRIAL PARTICIPANTS WERE MIDDLE-AGED (49.2+/-19.5 YEARS), OVERWEIGHT (27.9+/-3.6 KG/M(2)) ADULTS WITH HIGH BP (SYSTOLIC BP, 129.3+/-13.3 MM HG; DIASTOLIC BP, 80.7+/-8.4 MM HG). YOGA WAS PRACTICED 4.8+/-3.4 SESSIONS PER WEEK FOR 59.2+/-25.0 MINUTES PER SESSION FOR 13.2+/-7.5 WEEKS. ON AVERAGE, YOGA ELICITED MODERATE REDUCTIONS IN SYSTOLIC BP (WEIGHTED MEAN EFFECT SIZE, -0.47; 95% CI, -0.62-0.32, -5.0 MM HG) AND DIASTOLIC BP (WEIGHTED MEAN EFFECT SIZE, -0.47; 95% CI, -0.61 TO -0.32; -3.9 MM HG) COMPARED WITH CONTROLS (P<.001 FOR BOTH SYSTOLIC BP AND DIASTOLIC BP). CONTROLLING FOR PUBLICATION BIAS AND METHODOLOGICAL STUDY QUALITY, WHEN YOGA WAS PRACTICED 3 SESSIONS PER WEEK AMONG SAMPLES WITH HYPERTENSION, YOGA INTERVENTIONS THAT INCLUDED BREATHING TECHNIQUES AND MEDITATION/MENTAL RELAXATION ELICITED BP REDUCTIONS OF 11/6 MM HG COMPARED WITH THOSE THAT DID NOT (IE, 6/3 MM HG). CONCLUSION: OUR RESULTS INDICATE THAT YOGA IS A VIABLE ANTIHYPERTENSIVE LIFESTYLE THERAPY THAT PRODUCES THE GREATEST BP BENEFITS WHEN BREATHING TECHNIQUES AND MEDITATION/MENTAL RELAXATION ARE INCLUDED. 2019 3 2154 48 THE EFFECTS OF THAI YOGA ON PHYSICAL FITNESS: A META-ANALYSIS OF RANDOMIZED CONTROL TRIALS. OBJECTIVES: THAI YOGA IS A TRADITIONAL THAI EXERCISE USED FOR IMPROVING HEALTH-RELATED PHYSICAL FITNESS. MANY STUDIES HAVE EVALUATED THESE EFFECTS, BUT THEIR RESULTS REMAIN INCONCLUSIVE. THIS META-ANALYSIS AIMED TO EXAMINE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THAI YOGA ON PHYSICAL FITNESS. DESIGN/METHODS: PUBMED, EMBASE, CINAHL, COCHRANE LIBRARY, THAI LIBRARY INTEGRATED SYSTEM (THAILIS), PHYSIOTHERAPY EVIDENCE DATABASE (PEDRO), NATIONAL REHABILITATION INFORMATION CENTER (REHABDATA), SCOPUS, WEB OF SCIENCE, THAI UNIVERSITY LIBRARY DATABASES/JOURNALS, AND THAI PHYSICAL THERAPY DATABASE UP TO MARCH 2016 WERE SEARCHED FOR RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) EXAMINING THE EFFECT OF THAI YOGA EXERCISE COMPARED WITH NORMAL DAILY ACTIVITIES AS CONTROLS, IN ANY LANGUAGE. THE WEIGHTED MEAN DIFFERENCE (WMD) AND 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVALS (95% CI) WERE PERFORMED USING THE RANDOM-EFFECTS MODEL. RESULTS: SEVEN RCTS MET THE INCLUSION CRITERIA. THAI YOGA TRAINING SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED BODY FLEXIBILITY BY 3.9 CM AFTER 4 WEEKS [95% CI = 3.9-4.0; P < 0.001: NO HETEROGENEITY CHI(2) = 0.66, D.F.2, P = 0.7; I(2) 0.00%] AND 8.9 CM AFTER 8 WEEKS [95% CI = 7.4-10.5; P < 0.001: NO HETEROGENEITY CHI(2) = 0.16, D.F.2, P = 0.9; I(2) 0.00%] COMPARED TO CONTROLS. IT ALSO SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED RANGE OF MOTION (ROM) OF RIGHT SHOULDER EXTENSION BY 1.5 DEGREES AT WEEK 8, COMPARED TO CONTROLS [95% CI = 0.12-2.81; P = 0.03; LOW HETEROGENEITY CHI(2) = 1.61, D.F.1, P = 0.2; I(2) 37.9%]. GREATER ROM FOR RIGHT SHOULDER ABDUCTION WAS OBSERVED AFTER 12 WEEKS COMPARED TO CONTROLS [22.2 DEGREES (95% CI = 20-24; P < 0.001): NO HETEROGENEITY CHI(2) = 0.29, D.F.1, P = 0.6; I(2) 0.00%]. CONCLUSIONS: THAI YOGA EXERCISES APPEARED USEFUL, IN PARTICULAR, ON BODY AND RIGHT SHOULDER JOINT FLEXIBILITY. REGULAR STRETCHING EXERCISE OF THAI YOGA AND/OR IN COMBINATION WITH EXERCISES COULD PROMOTE HEALTH-RELATED PHYSICAL FITNESS. 2018 4 223 51 A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS ON THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON WEIGHT-RELATED OUTCOMES. INTRODUCTION: OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY ARE AMONG THE MOST IMPORTANT MODIFIABLE RISK FACTORS FOR CHRONIC DISEASES AND PREMATURE DEATH. THE AIM OF THIS REVIEW WAS TO SYSTEMATICALLY ASSESS AND ANALYZE THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON WEIGHT-RELATED OUTCOMES. METHODS: MEDLINE/PUBMED, SCOPUS, AND THE COCHRANE LIBRARY WERE SCREENED THROUGH MARCH 2015 FOR RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS ON YOGA FOR WEIGHT-RELATED OUTCOMES IN THE GENERAL POPULATION OR OVERWEIGHT/OBESE INDIVIDUALS. RISK OF BIAS WAS ASSESSED USING THE COCHRANE RISK OF BIAS TOOL ON THE FOLLOWING DOMAINS: SELECTION BIAS, PERFORMANCE BIAS, DETECTION BIAS, ATTRITION BIAS, REPORTING BIAS, AND OTHER BIAS. RESULTS: OUT OF 445 RECORDS IDENTIFIED DURING LITERATURE SEARCH, 30 TRIALS WITH A TOTAL OF 2173 PARTICIPANTS WERE INCLUDED. NO EFFECTS ON WEIGHT, BODY MASS INDEX, BODY FAT PERCENTAGE OR WAIST CIRCUMFERENCE WERE FOUND. IN STUDIES WITH HEALTHY ADULT PARTICIPANTS AN EFFECT OF YOGA COMPARED TO USUAL CARE WAS FOUND REGARDING WAIST/HIP RATIO (SMD=--1.00; 95% CI=--1.44, -0.55; P<0.001). IN STUDIES WITH OVERWEIGHT/OBESE PARTICIPANTS ONLY, EFFECTS RELATIVE TO USUAL CARE WERE FOUND FOR BODY MASS INDEX (SMD=-0.99; 95% CI=-1.67, -0.31; P=0.004). EFFECTS HOWEVER WERE NOT ROBUST AGAINST SELECTION BIAS; AND PUBLICATION BIAS COULD NOT BE RULED OUT. NO INTERVENTION-RELATED ADVERSE EVENTS WERE REPORTED. CONCLUSIONS: DESPITE METHODOLOGICAL DRAWBACKS, YOGA CAN BE PRELIMINARILY CONSIDERED A SAFE AND EFFECTIVE INTERVENTION TO REDUCE BODY MASS INDEX IN OVERWEIGHT OR OBESE INDIVIDUALS. 2016 5 231 53 A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF YOGA FOR HEART DISEASE. BACKGROUND: THIS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) AIMED TO EVALUATE THE QUALITY OF EVIDENCE AND THE STRENGTH OF RECOMMENDATION FOR YOGA AS AN ANCILLARY INTERVENTION FOR HEART DISEASE. METHODS: MEDLINE/PUBMED, SCOPUS, THE COCHRANE LIBRARY, AND INDMED WERE SEARCHED UP TO OCTOBER 2013. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES WERE MORTALITY, NONFATAL CARDIAC EVENTS, EXERCISE CAPACITY, HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE, AND MODIFIABLE CARDIAC RISK FACTORS. RISK OF BIAS, QUALITY OF EVIDENCE, AND THE STRENGTH OF THE RECOMMENDATION FOR OR AGAINST YOGA WERE ASSESSED ACCORDING TO THE COCHRANE COLLABORATION AND GRADE RECOMMENDATIONS. RESULTS: SEVEN RCTS WITH 624 PATIENTS COMPARING YOGA TO USUAL CARE WERE INCLUDED. FOR CORONARY HEART DISEASE (FOUR RCTS), THERE WAS VERY LOW EVIDENCE FOR NO EFFECT ON MORTALITY, FOR A REDUCED NUMBER OF ANGINA EPISODES, AND FOR INCREASED EXERCISE CAPACITY, AND LOW EVIDENCE FOR REDUCED MODIFIABLE CARDIAC RISK FACTORS. FOR HEART FAILURE (TWO RCTS), THERE WAS VERY LOW EVIDENCE FOR NO EFFECT ON MORTALITY, AND LOW EVIDENCE FOR INCREASED EXERCISE CAPACITY, AND FOR NO EFFECT ON HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY OF LIFE. FOR CARDIAC DYSRHYTHMIAS TREATED WITH IMPLANTABLE CARDIOVERTER-DEFIBRILLATOR (ONE RCT), THERE WAS VERY LOW EVIDENCE FOR NO EFFECT ON MORTALITY, AND FOR IMPROVED QUALITY, AND LOW EVIDENCE FOR EFFECTS ON NONFATAL DEVICE-TREATED VENTRICULAR EVENTS. THREE RCTS REPORTED SAFETY DATA AND REPORTED THAT NO ADVERSE EVENTS OCCURRED. CONCLUSIONS: BASED ON THE RESULTS OF THIS REVIEW, WEAK RECOMMENDATIONS CAN BE MADE FOR THE ANCILLARY USE OF YOGA FOR PATIENTS WITH CORONARY HEART DISEASE, HEART FAILURE, AND CARDIAC DYSRHYTHMIA AT THIS POINT. 2015 6 2098 44 THE EFFECT OF YOGA INTERVENTIONS ON CANCER-RELATED FATIGUE AND QUALITY OF LIFE FOR WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS. BACKGROUND: WOMEN WITH BREAST CANCER (BC) ARE LIVING LONGER WITH DEBILITATING SIDE EFFECTS SUCH AS CANCER-RELATED FATIGUE (CRF) THAT AFFECT OVERALL WELL-BEING. YOGA PROMOTES HEALTH, WELL-BEING AND MAY BE BENEFICIAL IN REDUCING CRF. ALTHOUGH THERE HAVE BEEN PREVIOUS SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS AND META-ANALYSES, THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON CRF AND QUALITY OF LIFE (QOL) REMAIN UNCLEAR, PARTICULARLY IN COMPARISON WITH OTHER TYPES OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY (PA). OUR OBJECTIVE IS TO CARRY OUT A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON CRF AND QOL IN WOMEN WITH BC. METHODS: ELECTRONIC DATABASES WERE SEARCHED (MEDLINE, EMBASE CLASSIC+EMBASE AND EMB REVIEWS, COCHRANE CENTRAL CT) FROM INCEPTION TO MAY 2018. RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS WERE INCLUDED IF THEY WERE FULL TEXT, IN ENGLISH, INCLUDED A YOGA INTERVENTION, A COMPARATOR (INCLUDING NON-PA USUAL CARE OR ALTERNATE PA INTERVENTION), AND REPORTED ON CRF OR QOL. EFFECTS OF YOGA WERE POOLED USING STANDARDIZED MEAN DIFFERENCE (SMD) VIA A RANDOM EFFECTS MODEL. RESULTS: OF THE 2468 RECORDS RETRIEVED, 24 TRIALS WERE INCLUDED; 18 STUDIES COMPARED YOGA TO A NON-PA COMPARATOR AND 6 TO A PA COMPARATOR. YOGA DEMONSTRATED STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN CRF OVER NON-PA (SMD -0.30 [-0.51; -0.08]) BUT NOT PA (SMD -0.17 [-0.50; 0.17]) COMPARATORS. ADDITIONALLY, YOGA DEMONSTRATED STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN QOL OVER NON-PA (SMD -0.27 [-0.46; -0.07]) BUT NOT PA (SMD 0.04 [-0.22; +0.31]) COMPARATORS. DISCUSSION: THIS META-ANALYSIS FOUND THAT YOGA PROVIDES SMALL TO MEDIUM IMPROVEMENTS IN CRF AND QOL COMPARED TO NON-PA, BUT NOT IN COMPARISON TO OTHER PA INTERVENTIONS. 2020 7 2144 47 THE EFFECTS OF MEDITATION, YOGA, AND MINDFULNESS ON DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, AND STRESS IN TERTIARY EDUCATION STUDENTS: A META-ANALYSIS. BACKGROUND: MEDITATION, YOGA, AND MINDFULNESS ARE POPULAR INTERVENTIONS AT UNIVERSITIES AND TERTIARY EDUCATION INSTITUTES TO IMPROVE MENTAL HEALTH. HOWEVER, THE EFFECTS ON DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, AND STRESS ARE UNCLEAR. THIS STUDY ASSESSED THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MEDITATION, YOGA, AND MINDFULNESS ON SYMPTOMS OF DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, AND STRESS IN TERTIARY EDUCATION STUDENTS. METHODS: WE SEARCHED COCHRANE CENTRAL REGISTER OF CONTROLLED TRIALS (CENTRAL), PUBMED, PSYCINFO AND IDENTIFIED 11,936 ARTICLES. AFTER RETRIEVING 181 PAPERS FOR FULL-TEXT SCREENING, 24 RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS WERE INCLUDED IN THE QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS. WE CONDUCTED A RANDOM-EFFECTS META-ANALYSIS AMONGST 23 STUDIES WITH 1,373 PARTICIPANTS. RESULTS: AT POST-TEST, AFTER EXCLUSION OF OUTLIERS, EFFECT SIZES FOR DEPRESSION, G = 0.42 (95% CI: 0.16-0.69), ANXIETY G = 0.46 (95% CI: 0.34-0.59), STRESS G = 0.42 (95% CI: 0.27-0.57) WERE MODERATE. HETEROGENEITY WAS LOW (I (2) = 6%). WHEN COMPARED TO ACTIVE CONTROL, THE EFFECT DECREASED TO G = 0.13 (95% CI: -0.18-0.43). NO RCT REPORTED ON SAFETY, ONLY TWO STUDIES REPORTED ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT, MOST STUDIES HAD A HIGH RISK OF BIAS. CONCLUSIONS: MOST STUDIES WERE OF POOR QUALITY AND RESULTS SHOULD BE INTERPRETED WITH CAUTION. OVERALL MODERATE EFFECTS WERE FOUND WHICH DECREASED SUBSTANTIALLY WHEN INTERVENTIONS WERE COMPARED TO ACTIVE CONTROL. IT IS UNCLEAR WHETHER MEDITATION, YOGA OR MINDFULNESS AFFECT ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OR AFFECT HAVE ANY NEGATIVE SIDE EFFECTS. 2019 8 2178 38 THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON PAIN, MOBILITY, AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN PATIENTS WITH KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW. OBJECTIVE. TO SYSTEMATICALLY ASSESS THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON PAIN, MOBILITY, AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN PATIENTS WITH KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS. METHODS. PUBMED, MEDLINE, EMBASE, THE COCHRANE CENTRAL REGISTER OF CONTROLLED TRIALS, PHYSIOTHERAPY EVIDENCE DATABASE (PEDRO), AND OTHER SOURCES WERE SEARCHED SYSTEMATICALLY IN THIS STUDY. TWO REVIEWERS IDENTIFIED ELIGIBLE STUDIES AND EXTRACTED DATA INDEPENDENTLY. DOWNS AND BLACK'S QUALITY INDEX WERE USED TO EVALUATE THE METHODOLOGICAL QUALITY OF THE INCLUDED STUDIES. RESULTS. A TOTAL OF 9 ARTICLES (6 STUDIES) INVOLVING 372 PATIENTS WITH KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS MET THE INCLUSION CRITERIA. THE MOST COMMON YOGA PROTOCOL IS 40~90 MINUTES/SESSION, LASTING FOR AT LEAST 8 WEEKS. THE EFFECT OF YOGA ON PAIN RELIEF AND FUNCTION IMPROVEMENT COULD BE SEEN AFTER TWO-WEEK INTERVENTION. CONCLUSION. THIS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW SHOWED THAT YOGA MIGHT HAVE POSITIVE EFFECTS IN RELIEVING PAIN AND MOBILITY ON PATIENTS WITH KOA, BUT THE EFFECTS ON QUALITY OF LIFE (QOL) ARE UNCLEAR. BESIDES, MORE OUTCOME MEASURE RELATED TO MENTAL HEALTH OF YOGA EFFECTS ON PEOPLE WITH KOA SHOULD BE CONDUCTED. 2016 9 2571 64 YOGA FOR EPILEPSY. BACKGROUND: THIS IS AN UPDATED VERSION OF THE ORIGINAL COCHRANE REVIEW PUBLISHED IN THE COCHRANE LIBRARY, ISSUE 1, 2002.YOGA MAY INDUCE RELAXATION AND STRESS REDUCTION, AND INFLUENCE THE ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAM AND THE AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM, THEREBY CONTROLLING SEIZURES. YOGA WOULD BE AN ATTRACTIVE THERAPEUTIC OPTION FOR EPILEPSY IF PROVED EFFECTIVE. OBJECTIVES: TO ASSESS WHETHER PEOPLE WITH EPILEPSY TREATED WITH YOGA:(A) HAVE A GREATER PROBABILITY OF BECOMING SEIZURE FREE;(B) HAVE A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN THE FREQUENCY OR DURATION OF SEIZURES, OR BOTH; AND(C) HAVE A BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE. SEARCH METHODS: WE SEARCHED THE COCHRANE EPILEPSY GROUP SPECIALIZED REGISTER (26 MARCH 2015), THE COCHRANE CENTRAL REGISTER OF CONTROLLED TRIALS (CENTRAL, THE COCHRANE LIBRARY, 26 MARCH 2015), MEDLINE (OVID, 1946 TO 26 MARCH 2015), SCOPUS (1823 TO 9 JANUARY 2014), CLINICALTRIALS.GOV (26 MARCH 2015), THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO) INTERNATIONAL CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRY PLATFORM ICTRP (26 MARCH 2015), AND ALSO REGISTRIES OF THE YOGA BIOMEDICAL TRUST AND THE RESEARCH COUNCIL FOR COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE. IN ADDITION, WE SEARCHED THE REFERENCES OF ALL THE IDENTIFIED STUDIES. NO LANGUAGE RESTRICTIONS WERE IMPOSED. SELECTION CRITERIA: THE FOLLOWING STUDY DESIGNS WERE ELIGIBLE FOR INCLUSION: RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCT) OF TREATMENT OF EPILEPSY WITH YOGA. ELIGIBLE PARTICIPANTS WERE ADULTS WITH UNCONTROLLED EPILEPSY COMPARING YOGA WITH NO TREATMENT OR DIFFERENT BEHAVIOURAL TREATMENTS. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: THREE REVIEW AUTHORS INDEPENDENTLY SELECTED TRIALS FOR INCLUSION AND EXTRACTED DATA. THE FOLLOWING OUTCOMES WERE ASSESSED: (A) PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE RENDERED SEIZURE FREE; (B) SEIZURE FREQUENCY AND DURATION; (C) QUALITY OF LIFE. ANALYSES WERE ON AN INTENTION-TO-TREAT BASIS. ODDS RATIO (OR) WITH 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVALS (95% CL) WERE ESTIMATED FOR THE OUTCOMES. MAIN RESULTS: TWO UNBLINDED TRIALS RECRUITED A TOTAL OF 50 PEOPLE (18 TREATED WITH YOGA AND 32 TO CONTROL INTERVENTIONS). ANTIEPILEPTIC DRUGS WERE CONTINUED IN ALL THE PARTICIPANTS. BASELINE PHASE LASTED 3 MONTHS IN BOTH STUDIES AND TREATMENT PHASE FROM 5 WEEKS TO 6 MONTHS IN THE TWO TRIALS. RANDOMISATION WAS BY ROLL OF A DIE IN ONE STUDY AND USING A COMPUTERISED RANDOMISATION TABLE IN THE OTHER ONE BUT NEITHER STUDY PROVIDED DETAILS OF CONCEALMENT OF ALLOCATION AND WERE RATED AS UNCLEAR RISK OF BIAS. OVERALL, THE TWO STUDIES WERE RATED AS LOW RISK OF BIAS (ALL PARTICIPANTS WERE INCLUDED IN THE ANALYSIS; ALL EXPECTED AND PRE-EXPECTED OUTCOMES WERE REPORTED; NO OTHER SOURCES OF BIAS). THE OVERALL OR WITH 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL (CI) WAS: (I) SEIZURE FREE FOR SIX MONTHS - FOR YOGA VERSUS SHAM YOGA ORS OF 14.54 (95% CI 0.67 TO 316.69) AND FOR YOGA VERSUS NO TREATMENT GROUP 17.31 (95% CI 0.80 TO 373.45); FOR ACCEPTANCE AND COMMITMENT THERAPY (ACT) VERSUS YOGA ORS OF 1.00 (95% CL 0.16 TO 6.42; (II) REDUCTION IN SEIZURE FREQUENCY - THE MEAN DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOGA VERSUS SHAM YOGA GROUP WAS -2.10 (95% CI -3.15 TO -1.05) AND FOR YOGA VERSUS NO TREATMENT GROUP -1.10 (95% CI -1.80 TO -0.40); (III) MORE THAN 50% REDUCTION IN SEIZURE FREQUENCY - FOR YOGA VERSUS SHAM YOGA GROUP ORS OF 81.00 (95% CI 4.36 TO 1504.46) AND FOR THE YOGA VERSUS NO TREATMENT GROUP 158.33 (95% CI 5.78 TO 4335.63); ACT VERSUS YOGA ORS OF 0.78 (95% CL 0.04 TO 14.75); (IV) MORE THAN 50% REDUCTION IN SEIZURE DURATION - FOR YOGA VERSUS SHAM YOGA GROUP ORS OF 45.00 (95% CI 2.01 TO 1006.75) AND FOR YOGA VERSUS NO TREATMENT GROUP 53.57 (95% CI 2.42 TO 1187.26); ACT VERSUS YOGA ORS OF 0.67 (95% CL 0.10 TO 4.35). IN ADDITION IN PANJWANI 1996 THE AUTHORS REPORTED THAT THE ONE-WAY ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE REVEALED NO STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE THREE GROUPS. A P-LAMBDA TEST TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE P VALUES BETWEEN THE THREE GROUPS ALSO INDICATED THAT THE DURATION OF EPILEPSY IN THE THREE GROUPS WAS NOT COMPARABLE. NO DATA WERE AVAILABLE REGARDING QUALITY OF LIFE. IN LUNDGREN 2008 THE AUTHORS REPORTED THAT THERE WAS NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE YOGA AND ACT GROUPS IN SEIZURE FREE RATES, 50% OR GREATER REDUCTION IN SEIZURE FREQUENCY OR SEIZURE DURATION AT ONE YEAR FOLLOW-UP. THE YOGA GROUP SHOWED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN THEIR QUALITY OF LIFE ACCORDING TO THE SATISFACTION WITH LIFE SCALE (SWLS) (P < 0.05), WHILE THE ACT GROUP HAD SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION QUALITY OF LIFE-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) SCALE (P < 0.01). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: STUDY OF 50 SUBJECTS WITH EPILEPSY FROM TWO TRIALS REVEALS POSSIBLE BENEFICIAL EFFECT IN CONTROL OF SEIZURES. RESULTS OF THE OVERALL EFFICACY ANALYSIS SHOW THAT YOGA TREATMENT WAS BETTER WHEN COMPARED WITH NO INTERVENTION OR INTERVENTIONS OTHER THAN YOGA (POSTURAL EXERCISES MIMICKING YOGA). THERE WAS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOGA AND ACCEPTANCE AND COMMITMENT THERAPY. HOWEVER NO RELIABLE CONCLUSIONS CAN BE DRAWN REGARDING THE EFFICACY OF YOGA AS A TREATMENT FOR UNCONTROLLED EPILEPSY, IN VIEW OF METHODOLOGICAL DEFICIENCIES SUCH AS LIMITED NUMBER OF STUDIES, LIMITED NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS RANDOMISED TO YOGA, LACK OF BLINDING AND LIMITED DATA ON QUALITY-OF-LIFE OUTCOME. PHYSICIAN BLINDING WOULD NORMALLY BE TAKEN TO BE THE PERSON DELIVERING THE INTERVENTION, WHEREAS WE THINK THE 'PHYSICIAN' WOULD IN FACT BE THE OUTCOME ASSESSOR (WHO COULD BE BLINDED), SO THAT WOULD BE A REDUCTION IN DETECTION BIAS RATHER THAN PERFORMANCE BIAS. IN ADDITION, EVIDENCE TO INFORM OUTCOMES IS LIMITED AND OF LOW QUALITY. FURTHER HIGH-QUALITY RESEARCH IS NEEDED TO FULLY EVALUATE THE EFFICACY OF YOGA FOR REFRACTORY EPILEPSY. 2015 10 2118 58 THE EFFECT OF YOGA PRACTICE ON GLYCEMIC CONTROL AND OTHER HEALTH PARAMETERS IN THE PREDIABETIC STATE: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS WAS CONDUCTED TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON GLYCEMIC CONTROL, LIPID PROFILES, BODY COMPOSITION AND BLOOD PRESSURE IN PEOPLE IN THE PRE-DIABETIC STATE. STUDIES ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA ON POPULATION GROUPS UNDER HIGH RISK FOR DIABETES, CALLED PREDIABETIC OR SUFFERING FROM METABOLIC SYNDROMES WERE EXTRACTED FROM A THOROUGH SEARCH OF PUBMED, SCOPUS, COCHRANE LIBRARY, EBSCO AND INDMED DATABASES. BOTH RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIAL (RCT) AND NON-RCT STUDIES WERE INCLUDED IN THE SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. STUDIES PUBLISHED BETWEEN JAN 2002 AND DEC 2018 WERE INCLUDED. STUDIES WERE CONSIDERED FOR EVALUATION IF THEY INVESTIGATED A YOGA INTERVENTION TO PREVENT T2DM, AGAINST A CONTROL GROUP, WHILE ALSO REPORTING GLYCEMIC CONTROL AND OTHER HEALTH PARAMETERS OF T2DM MANAGEMENT. SUMMARY EFFECT SIZES AND 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVALS (CI) WERE CALCULATED USING THE COMPREHENSIVE META-ANALYSIS SOFTWARE IN ADDITION TO PUBLICATION BIAS. OF THE 46,500 IDENTIFIED STUDIES, 14 STUDIES WITH 834 PARTICIPANTS OF WHOM WERE 50% WOMEN, WERE FOUND TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR INCLUSION IN OUR SYSTEMATIC REVIEW. OUR QUANTITATIVE SYNTHESIS INCLUDED 12 RANDOMIZED CONTROL TRIALS AND 2 NON-RANDOMIZED CONTROL TRIALS, WITH THE FOLLOW-UP PERIOD RANGING FROM 4 TO 52 WEEKS. COMPARED TO CONTROLS, YOGA INTERVENTION IMPROVED FASTING BLOOD GLUCOSE (FBG) [STANDARD MEAN DIFFERENCE (SMD -0.064 MG/DL (95% CI -0.201 TO 0.074)]; LOW DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN (LDL) [SMD-0.090 MG/DL (95% CI -0.270 TO 0.090)]; TRIGLYCERIDES [SMD -0.148 MG/DL (95% CI -0.285 TO -0.012)]; TOTAL CHOLESTEROL [SMD -0.058 MG/DL (95% CI -0.220 TO 0.104)] AND SYSTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURE [SMD -0.058 MM HG (95% CI -0.168 TO 0.053)]. THIS META-ANALYSIS UNCOVERED CLINICALLY IMPROVED EFFECTS OF YOGA INTERVENTION ON GLYCEMIC CONTROL, LIPID PROFILES AND OTHER PARAMETERS OF T2DM MANAGEMENT IN PREDIABETIC POPULATION. THESE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT YOGA INTERVENTION MAY BE CONSIDERED AS A COMPREHENSIVE AND ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO PREVENTING T2DM. FURTHER ADEQUATELY POWERED, WELL DESIGNED RCTS ARE NEEDED TO SUPPORT OUR FINDINGS AND INVESTIGATE THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF YOGA IN T2DM PATIENTS. 2019 11 2594 70 YOGA FOR METABOLIC SYNDROME: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. BACKGROUND METABOLIC SYNDROME IS THE MOST IMPORTANT RISK FACTOR FOR DEVELOPING CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE AND TYPE 2 DIABETES. THE AIM OF THIS REVIEW WAS TO SYSTEMATICALLY ASSESS AND PERFORM A META-ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTS OF YOGA ON THE PARAMETERS OF METABOLIC SYNDROME. METHODS MEDLINE/PUBMED, SCOPUS, THE COCHRANE CENTRAL REGISTER OF CONTROLLED TRIALS AND INDMED WERE SEARCHED AND SCREENED FROM THEIR INCEPTION THROUGH TO 8 MARCH 2016 FOR RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIALS ON YOGA FOR PATIENTS WITH METABOLIC SYNDROME. RISK OF BIAS WAS ASSESSED USING THE COCHRANE RISK OF BIAS TOOL. RESULTS SEVEN TRIALS WITH A TOTAL OF 794 PARTICIPANTS WERE INCLUDED. NO EFFECTS OF YOGA ON RESOLUTION OF METABOLIC SYNDROME, DIASTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURE, TRIGLYCERIDES, HIGH-DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN CHOLESTEROL AND FASTING PLASMA GLUCOSE WERE FOUND, BUT YOGA WAS SUPERIOR TO USUAL CARE FOR WAIST CIRCUMFERENCE (STANDARDISED MEAN DIFFERENCE (SMD) = -0.35; 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL (CI) = -0.57 TO -0.13; P < 0.01) AND SYSTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURE (SMD = -0.29; 95% CI = -0.51 TO -0.07; P = 0.01). HOWEVER, THESE EFFECTS WERE NOT ROBUST AGAINST SELECTION BIAS. NO INTERVENTION-RELATED ADVERSE EVENTS WERE REPORTED. CONCLUSION BASED ON THE RESULTS OF THIS META-ANALYSIS, NO RECOMMENDATION CAN BE MADE FOR OR AGAINST YOGA IN ORDER TO INFLUENCE THE PARAMETERS OF METABOLIC SYNDROME. DESPITE METHODOLOGICAL DRAWBACKS, AND UNTIL FURTHER RESEARCH IS UNDERTAKEN, YOGA CAN BE PRELIMINARILY CONSIDERED AS A SAFE AND EFFECTIVE INTERVENTION FOR REDUCING WAIST CIRCUMFERENCE AND SYSTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURE IN INDIVIDUALS WITH METABOLIC SYNDROME WHO ARE NOT ADHERING TO CONVENTIONAL FORMS OF EXERCISE. 2016 12 2566 52 YOGA FOR DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY SYMPTOMS IN PEOPLE WITH CANCER: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. OBJECTIVE: CANCER AND ITS TREATMENT CAN LEAD TO A VARIETY OF PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL CONCERNS IMPACTING ON THOSE AFFECTED, INCLUDING SUBCLINICAL OR CLINICAL DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY, WHICH IN TURN HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON WELLBEING, QUALITY OF LIFE AND SURVIVAL. THE AIM OF THIS REVIEW WAS TO EVALUATE THE EFFECT OF YOGA-BASED INTERVENTIONS ON SELF-REPORTED DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY SYMPTOMS IN PEOPLE WITH CANCER IN RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS. METHOD: SIX DATABASES WERE SEARCHED TO IDENTIFY RELEVANT STUDIES. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW PROCEDURES WERE FOLLOWED INCLUDING A QUALITY ASSESSMENT. META-ANALYSIS OF SUITABLE STUDIES WAS CONDUCTED. RESULTS: 26 STUDIES FROM OUR SEARCH CRITERIA WERE ELIGIBLE FOR INCLUSION FOR DEPRESSIVE AND 16 FOR ANXIETY SYMPTOMS. META-ANALYSES REVEALED EVIDENCE FOR SIGNIFICANT MEDIUM EFFECTS OF YOGA ON DEPRESSION SYMPTOMS (N = 1,486, G = -0.419, 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL [CI] = -0.558 TO -0.281, P < 0.001) AND ANXIETY (N = 977, G = -0.347, 95% CI = -0.473 TO -0.221, P < 0.001) COMPARED TO CONTROLS. SUBGROUP ANALYSES FOR DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS REVEALED SIGNIFICANT EFFECTS FOR ALL ANALYSES PERFORMED (TYPE OF CANCER, TYPE OF CONTROL, TREATMENT STATUS, DURATION OF INTERVENTION OR FREQUENCY OF YOGA SESSIONS), WITH EFFECT SIZES BEING COMPARABLE BETWEEN SUBGROUPS. SIMILAR FINDINGS WERE FOUND FOR ANXIETY SYMPTOMS EXCEPT FOR TREATMENT STATUS, WHERE THE ONLY SIGNIFICANT EFFECT WAS FOUND WHEN YOGA WAS DELIVERED DURING ACTIVE TREATMENT. CONCLUSIONS: THIS REVIEW PROVIDES EVIDENCE THAT IN PEOPLE WITH CANCER, YOGA-BASED INTERVENTIONS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH AMELIORATION OF DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY SYMPTOMS AND THEREFORE A PROMISING THERAPEUTIC MODALITY FOR THEIR MANAGEMENT. HOWEVER, THE POTENTIAL FOR RISK OF BIAS TOGETHER WITH CONTROL GROUP DESIGN CHALLENGES MEANS THE RESULTS SHOULD BE INTERPRETED WITH CAUTION. 2021 13 2612 53 YOGA FOR RHEUMATIC DISEASES: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW. OBJECTIVE: TO EVALUATE THE QUALITY OF EVIDENCE AND THE STRENGTH OF RECOMMENDATION FOR YOGA AS AN ANCILLARY INTERVENTION IN RHEUMATIC DISEASES. METHODS: MEDLINE/PUBMED, SCOPUS, THE COCHRANE LIBRARY AND INDMED WERE SEARCHED THROUGH FEBRUARY 2013. RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) COMPARING YOGA WITH CONTROL INTERVENTIONS IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATIC DISEASES WERE INCLUDED. TWO AUTHORS INDEPENDENTLY ASSESSED THE RISK OF BIAS USING THE COCHRANE BACK REVIEW GROUP RISK OF BIAS TOOL. THE QUALITY OF EVIDENCE AND THE STRENGTH OF THE RECOMMENDATION FOR OR AGAINST YOGA WERE GRADED ACCORDING TO THE GRADE RECOMMENDATIONS. RESULTS: EIGHT RCTS WITH A TOTAL OF 559 SUBJECTS WERE INCLUDED; TWO RCTS HAD A LOW RISK OF BIAS. IN TWO RCTS ON FM SYNDROME, THERE WAS VERY LOW EVIDENCE FOR EFFECTS ON PAIN AND LOW EVIDENCE FOR EFFECTS ON DISABILITY. IN THREE RCTS ON OA, THERE WAS VERY LOW EVIDENCE FOR EFFECTS ON PAIN AND DISABILITY. BASED ON TWO RCTS, VERY LOW EVIDENCE WAS FOUND FOR EFFECTS ON PAIN IN RA. NO EVIDENCE FOR EFFECTS ON PAIN WAS FOUND IN ONE RCT ON CTS. NO RCT EXPLICITLY REPORTED SAFETY DATA. CONCLUSION: BASED ON THE RESULTS OF THIS REVIEW, ONLY WEAK RECOMMENDATIONS CAN BE MADE FOR THE ANCILLARY USE OF YOGA IN THE MANAGEMENT OF FM SYNDROME, OA AND RA AT THIS POINT. 2013 14 355 52 ASSOCIATED FACTORS AND CONSEQUENCES OF RISK OF BIAS IN RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS OF YOGA: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW. BACKGROUND: BIAS IN RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) OF COMPLEMENTARY THERAPY INTERVENTIONS SEEMS TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH SPECIFIC FACTORS AND TO POTENTIALLY DISTORT THE STUDIES' CONCLUSIONS. THIS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW ASSESSED ASSOCIATED FACTORS OF RISK OF BIAS AND CONSEQUENCES FOR THE STUDIES' CONCLUSIONS IN RCTS OF YOGA AS ONE OF THE MOST COMMONLY USED COMPLEMENTARY THERAPIES. METHODS: MEDLINE/PUBMED, SCOPUS, INDMED AND THE COCHRANE LIBRARY WERE SEARCHED THROUGH FEBRUARY 2014 FOR YOGA RCTS. RISK OF SELECTION BIAS WAS ASSESSED USING THE COCHRANE TOOL AND REGRESSED TO A) PUBLICATION YEAR; B) COUNTRY OF ORIGIN; C) JOURNAL TYPE; AND D) IMPACT FACTOR USING MULTIPLE LOGISTIC REGRESSION ANALYSIS. LIKEWISE, THE AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS WERE REGRESSED TO RISK OF BIAS. RESULTS: A TOTAL OF 312 RCTS WERE INCLUDED. IMPACT FACTOR RANGED FROM 0.0 TO 39.2 (MEDIAN = 1.3); 60 RCT (19.2%) HAD A LOW RISK OF SELECTION BIAS, AND 252 (80.8%) HAD A HIGH OR UNCLEAR RISK OF SELECTION BIAS. ONLY PUBLICATION YEAR AND IMPACT FACTOR SIGNIFICANTLY PREDICTED LOW RISK OF BIAS; RCTS PUBLISHED AFTER 2001 (ADJUSTED ODDS RATIO (OR) = 12.6; 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL (CI) = 1.7, 94.0; P<0.001) AND THOSE PUBLISHED IN JOURNALS WITH IMPACT FACTOR (ADJUSTED OR = 2.6; 95%CI = 1.4, 4.9; P = 0.004) WERE MORE LIKELY TO HAVE LOW RISK OF BIAS. THE AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS WERE NOT ASSOCIATED WITH RISK OF BIAS. CONCLUSIONS: RISK OF SELECTION BIAS WAS GENERALLY HIGH IN RCTS OF YOGA; ALTHOUGH THE SITUATION HAS IMPROVED SINCE THE PUBLICATION OF THE REVISED CONSORT STATEMENT 2001. PRE-CONSORT RCTS AND THOSE PUBLISHED IN JOURNALS WITHOUT IMPACT FACTOR SHOULD BE HANDLED WITH INCREASED CARE; ALTHOUGH RISK OF BIAS IS UNLIKELY TO DISTORT THE RCTS' CONCLUSIONS. 2015 15 2559 41 YOGA FOR CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN: A META-ANALYSIS OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS. OBJECTIVES: TO EVALUATE THE EFFICACY OF YOGA AS AN INTERVENTION FOR CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN (CLBP) USING A META-ANALYTICAL APPROACH. RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS (RCTS) THAT EXAMINED PAIN ANDOR FUNCTIONAL DISABILITY AS TREATMENT OUTCOMES WERE INCLUDED. POST-TREATMENT AND FOLLOW-UP OUTCOMES WERE ASSESSED. METHODS: A COMPREHENSIVE SEARCH OF RELEVANT ELECTRONIC DATABASES, FROM THE TIME OF THEIR INCEPTION UNTIL NOVEMBER 2011, WAS CONDUCTED. COHEN'S D EFFECT SIZES WERE CALCULATED AND ENTERED IN A RANDOM-EFFECTS MODEL. RESULTS: EIGHT RCTS MET THE CRITERIA FOR INCLUSION (EIGHT ASSESSING FUNCTIONAL DISABILITY AND FIVE ASSESSING PAIN) AND INVOLVED A TOTAL OF 743 PATIENTS. AT POST-TREATMENT, YOGA HAD A MEDIUM TO LARGE EFFECT ON FUNCTIONAL DISABILITY (D=0.645) AND PAIN (D=0.623). DESPITE A WIDE RANGE OF YOGA STYLES AND TREATMENT DURATIONS, HETEROGENEITY IN POST-TREATMENT EFFECT SIZES WAS LOW. FOLLOW-UP EFFECT SIZES FOR FUNCTIONAL DISABILITY AND PAIN WERE SMALLER, BUT REMAINED SIGNIFICANT (D=0.397 AND D=0.486, RESPECTIVELY); HOWEVER, THERE WAS A MODERATE TO HIGH LEVEL OF VARIABILITY IN THESE EFFECT SIZES. DISCUSSION: THE RESULTS OF THE PRESENT STUDY INDICATE THAT YOGA MAY BE AN EFFICACIOUS ADJUNCTIVE TREATMENT FOR CLBP. THE STRONGEST AND MOST CONSISTENT EVIDENCE EMERGED FOR THE SHORT-TERM BENEFITS OF YOGA ON FUNCTIONAL DISABILITY. HOWEVER, BEFORE ANY DEFINITIVE CONCLUSIONS CAN BE DRAWN, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF METHODOLOGICAL CONCERNS THAT NEED TO BE ADDRESSED. IN PARTICULAR, IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT FUTURE RCTS INCLUDE AN ACTIVE CONTROL GROUP TO DETERMINE WHETHER YOGA HAS SPECIFIC TREATMENT EFFECTS AND WHETHER YOGA OFFERS ANY ADVANTAGES OVER TRADITIONAL EXERCISE PROGRAMS AND OTHER ALTERNATIVE THERAPIES FOR CLBP. 2013 16 2104 54 THE EFFECT OF YOGA ON HEALTH-RELATED FITNESS AMONG PATIENTS WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. BACKGROUND: THERE IS A NEED FOR A TYPE OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY THAT COULD ADDRESS THE CHALLENGING CYCLE OF PHYSICAL INACTIVITY, IMPAIRED HEALTH-RELATED FITNESS, AND TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS (T2DM) CONDITIONS. YOGA COULD BE ONE TYPE OF EXERCISE TO OVERCOME THE BARRIERS TO ADHERE TO REGULAR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY. THE CURRENT STUDY AIMED TO SYSTEMATICALLY REVIEW THE EFFECT OF YOGA ON HEALTH-RELATED FITNESS, INCLUDING CARDIORESPIRATORY FITNESS, MUSCLE STRENGTH, BODY COMPOSITION, BALANCE, AND FLEXIBILITY, AMONG PATIENTS WITH T2DM. METHODS: WE SYSTEMATICALLY SEARCHED FOUR DATABASES AND TWO REGISTRIES (PUBMED, SCOPUS, COCHRANE, EMBASE, WHO-ITCRP, AND CLINICALTRIALS.GOV) IN SEPTEMBER 2021, FOLLOWING A REGISTERED PROTOCOL ON PROSPERO (CRD42022276225). STUDY INCLUSION CRITERIA WERE T2DM PATIENTS WITH OR WITHOUT COMPLICATION, YOGA INTERVENTION AS A SINGLE COMPONENT OR AS A COMPLEMENT COMPARED TO OTHER KINDS OF EXERCISE OR AN INACTIVE CONTROL, HEALTH-RELATED FITNESS, AND A RANDOMIZED, CONTROLLED TRIAL OR QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL WITH CONTROL GROUP DESIGN. THE ROBINS-I TOOL AND ROB 2.0 TOOL WERE USED TO ASSESS THE RISK OF BIAS IN THE INCLUDED STUDIES. A VOTE-COUNTING ANALYSIS AND META-ANALYSIS COMPUTED USING RANDOM EFFECTS' MODELS WERE CONDUCTED. RESULTS: A TOTAL OF 10 RECORDS FROM 3 QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL AND 7 RANDOMIZED, CONTROLLED TRIALS WITH 815 PARTICIPANTS IN TOTAL WERE INCLUDED. THE META-ANALYSIS FAVORED YOGA GROUPS COMPARED TO INACTIVE CONTROLS IN IMPROVING MUSCLE STRENGTH BY 3.42 (95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL 2.42 TO 4.43), REPETITIONS OF CHAIR STAND TEST, AND IMPROVING CARDIORESPIRATORY FITNESS BY 6.6% (95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL 0.4 TO 12.8) IMPROVEMENT OF BASELINE FORCED VITAL CAPACITY. THE QUALITY OF EVIDENCE FOR BOTH OUTCOMES WAS LOW. CONCLUSION: LOW-QUALITY EVIDENCE FAVORED YOGA IN IMPROVING HEALTH-RELATED FITNESS, PARTICULARLY MUSCLE STRENGTH AND CARDIORESPIRATORY FITNESS, AMONG PATIENTS WITH T2DM. FUNDING: ALL AUTHORS IN THIS SYSTEMATIC REVIEW RECEIVED NO SPECIFIC GRANT FROM ANY FUNDING AGENCY IN THE PUBLIC, COMMERCIAL, OR NOT-FOR-PROFIT SECTORS. 2022 17 922 49 EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA FOR HYPERTENSION: SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. OBJECTIVES. TO SYSTEMATICALLY REVIEW AND META-ANALYZE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA FOR REDUCING BLOOD PRESSURE IN ADULTS WITH HYPERTENSION AND TO ASSESS THE MODIFYING INFLUENCES OF TYPE AND LENGTH OF YOGA INTERVENTION AND TYPE OF COMPARISON GROUP. METHODS. ACADEMIC SEARCH PREMIER, ALTHEALTHWATCH, BIOSIS/BIOLOGICAL ABSTRACTS, CINAHL, COCHRANE LIBRARY, EMBASE, MEDLINE, PSYCINFO, PSYCARTICLES, NATURAL STANDARD, AND WEB OF SCIENCE DATABASES WERE SCREENED FOR CONTROLLED STUDIES FROM 1966 TO MARCH 2013. TWO AUTHORS INDEPENDENTLY ASSESSED RISK OF BIAS USING THE COCHRANE RISK OF BIAS TOOL. RESULTS. ALL 17 STUDIES INCLUDED IN THE REVIEW HAD UNCLEAR OR HIGH RISK OF BIAS. YOGA HAD A MODEST BUT SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON SYSTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURE (SBP) (-4.17 [-6.35, -1.99], P = 0.0002) AND DIASTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURE (DBP) (-3.62 [-4.92, -1.60], P = 0.0001). SUBGROUP ANALYSES DEMONSTRATED SIGNIFICANT REDUCTIONS IN BLOOD PRESSURE FOR (1) INTERVENTIONS INCORPORATING 3 BASIC ELEMENTS OF YOGA PRACTICE (POSTURES, MEDITATION, AND BREATHING) (SBP: -8.17 MMHG [-12.45, -3.89]; DBP: -6.14 MMHG [-9.39, -2.89]) BUT NOT FOR MORE LIMITED YOGA INTERVENTIONS; (2) YOGA COMPARED TO NO TREATMENT (SBP: -7.96 MMHG [-10.65, -5.27]) BUT NOT FOR EXERCISE. CONCLUSION. YOGA CAN BE PRELIMINARILY RECOMMENDED AS AN EFFECTIVE INTERVENTION FOR REDUCING BLOOD PRESSURE. ADDITIONAL RIGOROUS CONTROLLED TRIALS ARE WARRANTED TO FURTHER INVESTIGATE THE POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF YOGA. 2013 18 2063 48 THE BENEFITS OF YOGA PRACTICE COMPARED TO PHYSICAL EXERCISE IN THE MANAGEMENT OF TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. YOGA IS INCREASINGLY USED AS AN ADJUNCTIVE THERAPY IN THE MANAGEMENT OF TYPE-2 DIABETES MELLITUS (T2DM). THE PRESENT STUDY AIMS TO SYSTEMATICALLY EVALUATE THE LITERATURE AND PERFORM A META-ANALYSIS ON THE EFFECTS OF YOGA PRACTICE COMPARED TO PHYSICAL EXERCISE IN THE MANAGEMENT OF T2DM. DATA WERE OBTAINED USING A STEPWISE SEARCH PROCESS USING KEYWORDS IN THE FOLLOWING ONLINE MEDICAL DATABASES; PUBMED, WEB OF SCIENCE AND SCOPUS. ALL CONTROLLED CLINICAL TRIALS INVOLVING PATIENTS WITH T2DM, COMPARING YOGA AS AN INTERVENTION WITH PHYSICAL EXERCISE AND EVALUATING GLYCAEMIC CONTROL AND OTHER OUTCOMES BETWEEN THE INTERVENTION AND CONTROL GROUPS WERE INCLUDED IN THE ANALYSIS. EIGHT STUDIES WERE ELIGIBLE TO BE INCLUDED IN THE SYSTEMATIC REVIEW. IN TOTAL, 842 PARTICIPANTS WERE ASSIGNED TO A YOGA INTERVENTION OR A CONTROL GROUP WITH AN EXERCISE INTERVENTION AND THE AGE RANGE OF PARTICIPANTS WAS 30-78 YEARS. A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN FBG (15.16MG/DL), PPBG (28.66MG/DL), HBA1C (0.39%) AND BMI (0.71KG/M2) WAS NOTED IN THE INTERVENTION GROUP ('YOGA') COMPARED TO THE CONTROL GROUP ('PHYSICAL EXERCISE') IN THE POOLED ANALYSIS. WE DID NOT OBSERVE ANY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO GROUPS FOR LIPID PARAMETERS, OTHER BODY COMPOSITION MEASURES (WC AND WHR) AND BLOOD PRESSURE. IN CONCLUSION, OUR RESULTS SHOW THAT YOGA HAS BENEFICIAL EFFECTS ON GLYCAEMIC CONTROL IN COMPARISON TO PHYSICAL EXERCISE IN T2DM HOWEVER, INDIVIDUAL STUDIES SHOWED CONSIDERABLE HETEROGENEITY. HENCE, FURTHER WELL-CONTROLLED RANDOMIZED TRIALS ARE REQUIRED PRIOR TO DRAWING CONCLUSIONS ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF YOGA IN COMPARISON TO PHYSICAL EXERCISE. 2018 19 83 36 A META-ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA-BASED INTERVENTIONS FOR MATERNAL DEPRESSION DURING PREGNANCY. PROMPT AND EFFECTIVE TREATMENT OF MATERNAL DEPRESSION DURING PREGNANCY IS IMPORTANT AS IT IS AN INDEPENDENT PREDICTOR OF NEGATIVE MATERNAL AND FETAL OUTCOMES. YOGA IS AN INCREASINGLY POPULAR NON-PHARMACOLOGICAL MODALITY. THIS STUDY THUS AIMED TO UNDERTAKE A META-ANALYSIS OF THE EFFICACY OF YOGA-BASED INTERVENTIONS FOR MATERNAL DEPRESSION DURING PREGNANCY. A TOTAL OF 8 CLINICAL STUDIES WERE SYSTEMATICALLY REVIEWED, AND 6 STUDIES WITH A TOTAL OF 405 PREGNANT MOTHERS WERE INCLUDED IN THE FINAL META-ANALYSIS. APPLYING PER-PROTOCOL ANALYSIS AND A RANDOM-EFFECTS MODEL, THE POOLED STANDARDIZED MEAN DIFFERENCE (SMD) FROM BASELINE DEPRESSIVE SCORE WAS -0.452 (95% CI: -0.816 TO -0.880, P=0.015), SUPPORTING A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT BENEFICIAL EFFECT OF YOGA-BASED INTERVENTIONS ON MOOD. OVERALL, YOGA-BASED INTERVENTIONS ARE A PROMISING NON-PHARMACOLOGICAL OPTION, HOWEVER, MOST TRIALS EXAMINED WERE PRELIMINARY, RECRUITED ONLY PARTICIPANTS WITH MILD DEPRESSION, DID NOT BLIND STUDY PARTICIPANTS AND HAD RELATIVELY SMALL SAMPLE SIZES. LARGER RANDOMIZED, CONTROLLED TRIALS SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED. 2019 20 2593 31 YOGA FOR MENSTRUAL PAIN IN PRIMARY DYSMENORRHEA: A META-ANALYSIS OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS. OBJECTIVES: TO ASSESS THE OVERALL EFFECT SIZE OF THE IMPACT OF YOGA ON MENSTRUAL PAIN IN PRIMARY DYSMENORRHEA. METHODS: RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS THAT WERE PUBLISHED IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE UNTIL DECEMBER 2018 IN PUBMED, EMBASE, WEB OF SCIENCE, AND THE COCHRANE LIBRARY ELECTRONIC DATABASES WERE SEARCHED. THE METHODOLOGIES FROM 4 TRIALS CONDUCTED ON 230 PARTICIPANTS WITH PRIMARY DYSMENORRHEA WERE INCLUDED IN THIS META-ANALYSIS TO COMPARE THE EFFECTS THAT PERFORMING A YOGA PROGRAM HAS ON MENSTRUAL PAIN (N=129) TO THE EFFECTS OF NOT PERFORMING YOGA (N=101). RESULTS: THE OVERALL EFFECT SIZE OF THE IMPACT OF A YOGA PROGRAM ON MENSTRUAL PAIN IN PRIMARY DYSMENORRHEA WAS HIGH WITH A STANDARDIZED MEAN DIFFERENCE OF -2.09 (-3.99 TO -0.19) (P=0.031) AMONG THE EFFECT SIZES OF THE 4 TRIALS (95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL). CONCLUSIONS: YOGA IS AN EFFECTIVE INTERVENTION FOR ALLEVIATING MENSTRUAL PAIN IN WOMEN WITH PRIMARY DYSMENORRHEA. 2019